"Where necessary, through a range of capabilities, we will continue to take grave action against those terrorists who pose a threat to America,” stated President Barack Obama during his State of the Union Address last week.
Missing from the president’s speech was any mention of the use of drone attacks upon his administration’s “kill list.” Recently his administration’s policy of using drones to indiscriminately attack terrorist targets has been questioned.
The current policy on drone attacks is the creation of President Obama and he has ordered five times as more drone strikes than President George W. Bush. This should cause all Catholics and people of good will to pause. While the President’s spokesman earlier in the month emphatically stated that “these strikes are legal, they are ethical and they are wise,” many Americans must question the legality, wisdom and morality of such a policy.
The legality of drone attacks under international law when war has not been declared and the President’s expansion of executive power in deploying drones has garnered much criticism from both the political left and right. However, it is the morality of such attacks that concern many others both in and outside of the Catholic Church. Recently Princeton Professor Robert George called for Catholics to oppose the “wholesale and indiscriminate use of drones.” Professor George is far from an academic liberal peacenik, he is rather well-known as a champion of Catholic and conservative causes. His serious concern about the Obama Administration’s policy is based upon the number of non-combatants killed by drones, namely children and American citizens.
While the use of drones is not inherently immoral, the misuse of presidential power to deploy secret and indiscriminate attacks that result in the deaths of innocent men, women and children is morally questionable. We welcome more Congressional oversight over the president’s drone policy and hope that not only the legality of such a policy but also the morality of such policies is fully examined. We also echo Professor George’s prophetic call for Catholics to oppose the indiscriminate use of drones that result in the killing of the innocent. It is time for the Obama Administration to pause and truly reflect upon the misuse of presidential power and the immoral killing of innocent civilians. Mr. Obama can never be a moral leader of peace and justice in the world if his administration continues immoral methods of warfare.
